"The legal inaccuracy about stillborn babies". This is the headline of the French Catholic newspaper, "La Croix", for the article that was published online today. The article tries to "explain" an issue that caused a furore in the French public opinion: on 6th February, the Court of Cassation decreed that a stillborn baby can be registered at the Register of Births, regardless of its weight and the term of pregnancy. "The sentence reads the presentation of the article does not question the right to abortion. However, it shows that there are gaps in the French legal system about the beginning of human life". The Catholic newspaper listened to the opinion of Bertrand Mathieu, law professor at Paris 1 University, who thinks the reference made by the Court of Cassation to article 79-1 of the Civil Code, under which the registration of a stillborn baby in the Register of Births is not conditional "on either the weight of the foetus or the term of pregnancy", is "extremely vague". The risk is that this issue "might be loosely construed" from now on. First and foremost, there is the crucial point of the social issues, related to maternity and paternity leaves, because comments La Croix under the Cassation sentence "one can legitimately wonder whether all parents will be entitled to such leaves, whatever the age of the dead foetus".
